60 Years of the Daleks
Part 2: The 1970s, '80s and '90s
2023 is not just the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, but also of the Daleks, who first appeared at the end of 1963. Here, in three posts, I chart the Dalek phenomenon as it unfolded over the following 60 years. I cover developments in all things Dalek as seen in the growing lore of the show itself and in the real world (their realisation, spin-off appearances, etc).
The story continues in 1972, as a five-year Dalek draught comes to an end…
JANUARY 1972
The Daleks have again conquered future Earth in Day of the Daleks, but by the end of the story that timeline has been averted. The Daleks employ an army of human servants to maintain order along with a force of simian – and not very bright – alien mercenaries, the Ogrons. By this time, only three full Dalek props remained serviceable, leaving the Dalek invasion force feeling rather underwhelming. Dalekenium, meanwhile, has now become an explosive effective against the Daleks.
MARCH 1973
Apparently in league with the Master, the Daleks make a surprise appearance at the end of Frontier in Space. It was the first appearance of Cy Town as a Dalek operator in Doctor Who itself, but he had already made his Dalek debut on Blue Peter in 1971. Town returned for every Dalek story until the end of the original series.
APRIL 1973
Planet of the Daleks begins, with Terry Nation back writing for his creations. Here we see that the Daleks have achieved invisibility – a bit. We also learn that the Daleks are susceptible to low temperatures, with sudden exposure to extreme cold killing the Dalek mutants, and that most Daleks have an automatic distress signal. The Daleks’ Supreme Council is referenced and the Supreme Dalek itself makes a late appearance thanks to one of Nation’s own Dalek props. The BBC commissioned Westbury Design and Optical to produce seven dummy ‘goon’ Dalek props to help represent an army of 10,000 Daleks in hibernation. It was the first time anyone other than Shawcraft had built Daleks for the BBC.
MAY 1973
Returning from a publicity appearance, two Dalek props were stolen from outside BBC Television Centre. The remaining prop issued an appeal for its comrades’ return on Blue Peter. The next day they were recovered, one in rather distressed condition after being found abandoned. Blue Peter viewers were rewarded with an exemption from extermination in a further Dalek appearance the following week.
NOVEMBER 1973
The Radio Times Doctor Who 10th anniversary special includes notable Dalek content. Terry Nation provided a new text story, We Are the Daleks, which gives another variant on the Daleks’ origins. The magazine also provided build-a-Dalek plans which, thanks to a few notable inaccuracies, led to a generation of dodgy-looking fan-built Daleks.
FEBRUARY 1974
In Death to the Daleks, the Daleks equip themselves with bullet-firing guns when the power for their energy weapons is sapped by the Exxilon city. They test them on a model TARDIS before slaughtering Exxilons. One Dalek is seen to self-destruct, apparently in shame, upon learning that its prisoners have escaped. It was the last appearance of Murphy Grumbar, who had been a Dalek operator in most of their television stories.
DECEMBER 1974
Seven Keys to Doomsday was the Daleks’ second assault on the West End, this time sharing the stage with an alternative fourth Doctor. The script by Terrance Dicks was derivative of the Daleks’ previous TV stories but featured the Dalek Emperor, now in the form of a regular Dalek. Five new Dalek props were built under supervision of Allister Bowtell, based on two of the idiosyncratic props owed by Terry Nation. The play was staged again in Buxton in 1981 and in New Zealand in 1984. It was adapted for an audio release by Big Finish in 2008.
MARCH 1975
Terry Nation gives his fourth and most successful variation on the Daleks’ origins in Genesis of the Daleks. We learn that the name Dalek derives from the species name Kaled, and meet their creator Davros, who built the Daleks in his own image, for the first time. We see a protype Dalek operated on remote control by Davros before being given autonomy. The word ‘pity’ was omitted from Dalek vocabulary banks
SEPTEMBER 1979
In Destiny of the Daleks we learn that the Daleks no longer retain an organic component and have become entirely reliant on computer logic, leading to stalemate in their war with the robotic Movellans. This development was abandoned in future stories. It was also Terry Nation’s last contribution to televised Doctor Who. His final Dalek story, however, followed the next month when Target published Terry Nation’s Dalek Special, which included The Secret Invasion, a Doctor-free Dalek story which Nation had written five years earlier. By this point, the BBC’s Dalek props were in a poor state of repair with no two even having exactly matching colour schemes.
FEBRUARY 1984
In Resurrection of the Daleks, Davros creates a breakaway faction of Daleks loyal only to him, which battle against the forces of the Supreme Dalek. We also learn that the Daleks have perfected the creation of humanoid duplicates (somewhat better than in The Chase) and plan to invade Gallifrey. They use time corridor technology and employ human(oid) mercenaries as troops. They are highly susceptible to a virus developed by the Movellans and use their own biological weapon against humans. A Dalek mutant survives the destruction of its casing and attacks two soldiers, apparently biting their necks.
MARCH 1985
In Revelation of the Daleks, Davros has converted humans into a new race of Daleks. He is captured by Daleks loyal to the Dalek Supreme and taken for ‘trial’, suggesting the species has a judicial system. The new race of Daleks was represented by a new set of props built in-house by the BBC to a subtly different design from the 1960s originals. We also see a ‘glass’ Dalek, an idea first suggested by David Whitaker’s book Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks from 1964. Although not wholly successful, there was an attempt to show a Dalek levitating using a model.
OCTOBER 1988
Remembrance of the Daleks again pits two factions of Daleks against each other, with the renegades integrating a schoolgirl into their battle computer. With a spherical top, the new Emperor Dalek (really Davros) casing was inspired by the Golden Emperor Dalek of the 1960s comic strips. The Imperial Daleks were realised with another brand-new design, this time revelling in a distinctively 1980s aesthetic. Most notably, we finally see a Dalek hover up stairs and there’s an all-new model of Dalek in the tank-like Special Weapons Dalek. Skaro is destroyed when the Doctor tricks Davros into activating the Hand of Omega, though the BBC novel War of the Daleks subsequently muddies the waters.
MARCH 1989
Premiering in March 1989, The Ultimate Adventure was another Doctor Who stage production featuring the Daleks. This time they teamed up with the Cybermen and huma mercenaries. Four new Dalek props were built for the production to a unique design, subtly different in a number of respects (notably being taller and therefore appearing thinner) than the TV Daleks. A new version of the giant Emperor Dalek from The Evil of the Daleks also featured. The Daleks were operated by members of the company, with voices by Chris Beaumont and Troy Webb.
OCTOBER 1992
Dalek Attack by Alternative Software is the first video game to feature the Daleks, officially at least. Previously a simplistic freely distributed amateur-made game had taken the title Daleks although it had nothing to do with the game content. The injunction-dodging ‘Daleq’ later appeared in Sensible Software’s Cannon Fodder 2 in 1994. Fast forward to 1997 and the Daleks appear in Destiny of the Doctors, from BBC Multimedia. By the time Doctor Who returned in the 21st century, video games were huge business and a steady stream of titles linked to the series appeared, often featuring the Daleks, such as Top Trumps in 2008 and The Adventure Games in 2010.
MAY 1996
The Daleks remain unseen in the TV Movie but they are heard, with unusually squeaky voices. The voice was provided by the film’s director himself, Geoffrey Sax. Their justice system is hinted at again as we learn that they have tried and executed the Master. Surprisingly, they grant safe passage to the Doctor to take away the Master’s remains.
MARCH 1999
Comedy Doctor Who adventure The Curse of Fatal Death, by Stevan Moffat, formed part of the Comic Relief charity telethon. The Daleks appeared in good numbers thanks to props borrowed from fans and the efforts of Mike Tucker of the BBC Visual Effects workshop where the moulds for the Imperial Daleks from Remembrance of the Daleks still resided. The Daleks were operated by a mix of fans and actors, with voices by Roy Skelton and Dave Chapman, who also operated a prop.
Next time: Daleks in the 21st century and the new series…
Main Sources
dalek6388.co.uk (researched and written by Jon Green and Gavin Rymill)
Doctor Who 50 Years: The Daleks (Panini bookazine, 2013)
Doctor Who: The Complete History partwork (various volumes, Panini, 2015-18)